Yes, you don't need the specific suction cups to remove the display cover - it's held on by magnets, and if you start at the center by the iSight you can work out to the edges and remove it. I had an iPhone screen suction cup around and it helped with balancing the screen when you pull it out fully, but by no ways is it required.

Great guide and pretty straight forward the only thing that took me ages and I didn't manage to undo were the power btn cable (step 28) and the thermal sensor (step 25) Seemed like they were glued on! Very difficult to remove and obviously conscious so I didn't break anything!

Then, i did not take out the whole display and left it in the hinges on the bottom side and held it up with two small cardboard boxes. Easy enough to disconnect the hdd then.

I replaced with an ssd, put that into a ssd enclosure. Had to drill an extra hole in it to fasten the pins that hold it in place.

Used Carbon Copy Cloner to make an image from the old hdd, with the sad connected via usb. Checked it of it booted via System Preferences > Startup Disk. It worked so the took the imac apart and replaced the disk. Booted, everything was working as always, only faster!

My display data cable forks, with a smaller section going up near the camera board. Where it forks, it is attached to the aluminum plate that attaches around the cpu board. I haven't seen any images that look similar, and I'm stumped at how to remove this second section of the cable. 2010 i7 build to order

The reason for caution about suction cups tends to be making sure you don’t apply uneven pressure on the edges of the glass and crack it in the process of removal. I do agree however that some pretty small suction cups would do fine. These suction cups can be had at your local princess auto (Harbor freight) for a few bucks and are useful elsewhere as well. if you use your fingernails or other items just try and do it evenly :)

A great first step that minimizes that first gust of dust migration when the glass is lifted is to clean the glass, sides *and the back* before lifting the glass, and then lift SLOWLY. Most of that dust is already trapped inside and pulled up as the screen lifts, but with care you can keep it there (or gently vacuum out with a micro vac…).

Reassembly: After powering on and running for a few minutes, found a large whitish patch on the screen. Persists after powerdown.

Turned out to be condensation, though it didn't look like it - more like fine white powder rubbed in. Humidity is very high this time of the year. Fix: start airconditioner in a room, leave it running a while, take iMac in, prise open the glass again. Condensation vanishes instantly. Keep it out for a ~15 minutes running infinite loops to get iMac nicely heated up and fans running. Snap glass back.

I used a Swiffer dry cloth to get all the dust off the screen while just blowing with my mouth at a steep angle. I know I didn't get every speck, but the screen looks perfect once assembled and lit again. Removing the glass from the screen is pretty easy if you need to re-clean it.

I strongly recomment to detach the suction cups while working at the rest of the steps. In my case after half an our i heart a crack noise behind me on the table... The vacuum of one of the suction cups braked the glass! maybe there should be a warning in the Repair guide

I didn't crack the screen, but it popped out of the shims and then popped back in, as if the glass edge is magnetic or has steel in it to connect to magnets. Be careful with this step — it is pretty nerve-wracking, but doable!

You need a big clean surface free, or at least 2 or more free surfaces because the iMac, the glass and the LCD display are quite bulky. You'll also probably need space for a tablet or a laptop to read this guide while you are working. And don't forget room to work on the optical unit and for the tools you are going to use. I covered a large table with a double layer of bubble wrap. In my opinion it's better to put the glass face down to limit powder sticking on the internal surface.

I am doing this repair now. After successfully lifting off the glass panel (yay!), dust blew out of the lower open edge. So I sprayed a can of air around edges. But a poof of the “air” condensated on the LCD. Does anyone know if I can clean the LCD same as how the glass is cleaned (damp cloth with equal parts white distilled vinegar/distilled water) and if not then how?

To clean the LCD panel, I would suggest using a clean microfiber cloth and rubbing alcohol. Distilled water can be used, but avoid regular water, which contains minerals. Make sure the microfiber cloth is absolutely clean and has no hard particles sticking on the surface, which will scratch your LCD when you wipe it.

Wet the surface with some alcohol and gently wipe with the microfiber cloth. Wipe in one direction.

I find that the LCD is not as fragile as we all think. they are very much like any LCD on a tv or monitor. There is no extra glass on the front of a monitor. Not the 23 HP Pro Displays I have anyway. I know this because I punctured one moving my video wall. so I took it apart to know how its put together. I will say, there are several 'lens’ like sheets and a reflective (silver} sheets that are the same size as the panel. and a 1/8”piece of acrylic, all behind the LCD panel. Take care with them and clean as you would your monitor.

My suggestion is to stand the iMac up after the panel is secured back into the body of the iMac and clean while its vertical. took me 3 attempts before I realized that while laying flat the surface is large and collects dust with mind blowing speed.

I followed the procedure in the Apple Technician Guide and it was a lot easier. Stand the iMac upright on the stand (as per normal operation) and then carefully tilt the top of the unit towards you while holding the top of the LCD. The LCD just falls forward into you hands. It is also then easier to disconnect the cables.

This procedure can be VERY dangerous. Why? Because there is the possibility of a gravity disaster if you lose control of the screen and it falls before you disconnect the interface cables. I know. It happened to me. After studying the Apple directions I came to the conclusion that I would need both hands on releasing a couple go the cables and decided to tape off the screen in the open position - which I did very carefully and securely. What I did not account for was the tape not adhering. Needless to say when it came loose the screen fell and ruined the connector sockets (and my computer). This could also happen just trying to hold the screen with one hand while spudging the connectors apart with the other as well. SO. LAY THE iMAC DOWN! DO **N O T** GIVE GRAVITY THE CHANCE TO RUIN YOUR DAY like it did mine!

After disconnecting the VSync cable, I was able to keep the screen wedged apart by 8" which gave me enough working room to extract and replaced the hard drive without having to remove Step 6 - 8. This resulted in a faster change out of the hard drive.

This is the answer :-) After 10 mins of faffing about on my own I read the manual (this) and this tip took less than 1 second to get the connector out. Thank you so much, me fellow workers were getting annoyed at my swearing.

It is very hard to detach the connector with the spudger. I tried forcing the connector out with the spudger by pushing on one side and then the other repeatedly. After several times it finally came out. A tool would be useful for this; there must be special plyers for doing this. Fingernails on either side seems most obvious, but maybe there is a downside to this ?

Do step 7 first. The cable is much shorter and more fragile, you'll have more space to remove the other cables if that one is removed first. On my mac, the cable in step 7 was glued down and had to be freed up before I could pull the connecter out of its socket.

Good idea! I used two chopsticks as they are longer. Placed them near the corner and use one of the T10 screw's hole in the side of LCD panel to prop it up. Fit perfectly and very sturdy. This gave me plenty of space to work with the replacement.

me too. All went well expect replace this flat cable which is tricky almost when my view is low and I've got big finger. I broke the cable end connector to motherboard but I don't know if I damaged the connector on motherboard. I'm waiting from Apple service for diagnostic.

I would suggest on the guide to add a step to explain how sensitive is to replace this cable. iMac should lay on the back and it should have some stuff to maintain the motherboard elevated in order to insert the display port flat cable to the motherboard on a less stressful way.

The ZIF display cable is tricky to get back in. I would suggest that this cable be the first one to be put back during reassembly. You need maximum wiggle room and visibility for this. Push in the display power cable *after* this one.

This is really difficult, but essentially it slides in - with no discernible click. A *slight* tug on the lever lets you know its connected. Horrible thing.

Use the ‘bic pen’ trick and you don’t have to remove this for most things but I had to go ‘back in’ to remove the super drive. I then used the tip next down and removed this connector at the screen also and put this end back in first with no screen in the way.

I found the best way for me to reinstall the ZIF cable in was to lay LCD panel on its face and gently peel the black tape on upper part of lcd to expose and remove the connector there. At this point the ribbon cable is free and you can insert the hard to align connector to the board. Set LCD into imac and connect the small push connector next to the ribbon cable on board. It was easier to see and then reconnect the cable to the upper portion of LCD and tape it back over. Reinstall other connectors etc. This way worked best on my 27" iMac as it was much easier.

I had to replace the cable due to damage from trying to reinsert it at the logic board and I found it best to re-attach it exactly the way that thewiseone71 describes it above. If you disconnect the part at the top with the tape around it, this goes much easier and there is less of a chance of damaging the port on the logic board where it attaches at the other end. I think some photos of this port, and the way this cable goes back in would be a great addition to this tutorial. Replacing this cable would also make a great tutorial.

So like everyone else, I managed to screw this up. Do you remember where you picked up the replacement, or what I should look for specifically when looking for a new one? I looked on amazon, but the label on the one I found doesn’t match what is on mine.

What would be really helpful to this guide, and this image is the closest I can find in the sequence, is a quick summary of exactly where the diagnostic LEDs are on this model (and what they mean, although the latter is easily googleable). I only mention this as I believe my PSU is goosed as no LEDs are illuminated anywhere, however I can only find references to 2009 and 2010 of the similar MYs which evidently have diagnostic LEDs in a different place, hidden under tape, and I suspect numbered differently. So I can't be 100% certain!

I can see why some people are breaking the connector in step 7. You do initially pull the tab up, perpendicular to the logic board, which unlatches the connector, but then it is finally disconnected by then pulling the tab toward the top of the computer, parallel to the face of the logic board. I found it easier, after disconnecting the sync cable in step 5, to then prop up the bottom of the LCD, in order to better reach the ZIF connector, the LED backlight driver cable and the display power cable.

It’s pretty simple, using ifixit IC Extractor/Connector Puller by gripping gently and carefully the tips of the connector and pull straight up towards the HDD. You can also use a spudger and gently very slowly walk it up towards the HDD.

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When I opened up my iMac, I was surprised at how dusty it was inside. You might want to have a vacuum cleaner handy to vacuum up the dust inside the case. Be careful not to vacuum up the screws, though!

FYI...I did this fix, upgraded my mid 2011 27" to a Samsung 850 EVO SSD Hard Drive. Everything went great except for two parts...

1. When I started up with my install media I got a three beep error and I could not install. I ended up using the CRTL-R at startup and did a network install that downloads an image of the original OS that comes with the system and allows you to install with the correct file.

2. Hard drive fan was spinning at full speed the whole time. This was annoying to say the least. Another person on this thread commented on this and said that you had to buy a $30 piece of software to fix it, I actually found another one that is free and works quite well (http://exirion.net/ssdfanctrl/).

There seems to be a missing step here. All the while one is removing the cables from their sockets it is supposed that the screen which is quite heavy is suspended in mid air… no, you are holding it up with one hand while doing everything single handed while in all honesty it would be nice to have both hands if for nothing else to steady your movements. So. Lets add a step. Lets figure out a solution and use some kind of prop until the screen is removable.

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Hello - I have this same issue and tried to complete this repair, but the VSync connector on the new LED Driver Board is different. Has anyone had this issue? Know of a reason why? Any help would be appreciated.

I have found two different inverter boards in the 27” 2011 iMacs. One, like shown here, has a 4 pin connector on the top edge that a small connector with 2 wires coming directly from the LCD panel plugs into. The other has an 8 pin connector with a cable about 16” long that goes from that connector to the 8 pin connector on the logic board labeled BLC_ACDC. I’ve come across this configuration 2 or 3 times, out of 40+ iMacs I’ve refurbished.

The inverter board with 8 pins has a part number of V267-E02HF and they sometimes show up on eBay. The cable has a part number of 593-1435 and they’re impossible to find.

The cable is just a v-sync. If it’s bad or disconnected, the only “reaction” should be a sort of “trace” left on the screen when dragging windows, not a completely dark screen. That is, the screen should work even without v-sync cable.